What we do atVibrant Valley Farm

We are two women who are dedicated farmers and passionate educators committed to exploring innovative solutions to enliven the current food system, both locally and globally. We work to honor ancient traditions in growing food and connecting to the land as well as to helping to create healthier communities. We are partnering with local schools and youth projects to create mentorship programs as well as green job training possibilities to accompany the hard work and dedication of growing food and learning from one another in a field setting.

Founding Farmers

KARA MARIEGILBERT

Kara was born and raised in Portland, Oregon in the heart of the Willamette Valley. With a strong lineage of farmers and produce purveyors, it is no doubt that farming and growing food was something she would partake in. In her undergraduate studies at University of Oregon, she was inspired through an urban farming course which led her to Europe and South America as a volunteer on WWOOF farms to learn and work with people growing food to gain an international perspective of food policies and the social justice that accompanies it. From her experience abroad she knew farming was her life path and started working with local schools in the Portland area teaching garden based education and life skills training in her Graduate program,Educational Leadership and Policy, at Portland State University. Upon completion at PSU, Kara started working at a local farm, Simington Gardens, as a field hand and education coordinator where she lived and worked for 3 full farming seasons. She developed the skills of small farming and agriculture to share in her experience here at Vibrant Valley Farm. Her leadership and development of this company has empowered her to learn more about local food systems and sustainable goal setting in every aspect of small-scale farming and organization!

ELAINE ELIZABETHWALKER

Elaine was born in the wonderful city of San Francisco where she first fell in love with plants and the marriage of urban and rural values found in San Francisco’s urban gardens. Amazed by the ecosystems and the sense of teamwork in gardens she continued to work and learn in different ones in Eugene and the San Francisco Bay Area. Inspired to find alternative food systems and projects focusing on social justice she traveled to South America and Spain volunteering on WWOOF farms. Exploring the urban rural divide particularly in the food system led her to Pie Ranch in Pescadero, an educational farm, where high school students learn about growing food. She later worked in urban gardens with San Francisco’s CommunityGrows’ green job training and afterschool programs as well as the city’s Juvenile Hall garden project. After completing the six month apprenticeship at the University of California Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems she is happy to return to Oregon’s fertile valley and to start a project with you all!